What's your beginners tip?
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One thing is while learning is to have a definate project to draw. Don't just sit in front of the computer and figure out what you can draw. Say your gonna build a basic house, and start drawing. Learn keyboard shortcuts as much as possible and also learn what holding ctrl,shift,etc will do when you are performing a function like copying. (like may functions, this is ONE way) To copy, select the object,click on a part of the object(prefferrably a corner of major part of the object),then,before you move the mouse, click the ctrl button, then move your new copy. Hope that makes sense...
Have fun like Solo says....very true.
Cheers, Jeff -
- Do not try and learn too many things at once
- Learn about ruby's
- Switch off autosave and get into a routine of saving after major steps (autosave slows down system)
- Only texture at end as textures bog down model
- Do not model new components in scene, open new instance to create new objects and then make them components and import into scene
- Use layers, I repeat use layers as it makes the scene manageable
- Purge entire model regularly
- Walk away, after 30 minutes or so leave your work station and return ater five minutes, as this helps with concentration and a great way to find mistakes as the renewed eye will find faults
- Import amazing models and destroy them in order to learn how they were made, I have learned a lot by other peoples techniques
- If you cannot figure it out, come here and ask
- keep your modeling machine lean, limit the amout of background apps to a bare minimum as it helps with speed and stability.
- Be organized, keep texture and component folders organized as ease of finding stuff means productive workflow.
- Most importantly as I've said before, have fun, enjoy the Sketchup experiance and keep playing as the skills you learn today will be forgotten next month unless you keep at it.
Hope this helps as this is the way I do it.
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@solo said:
- Do not try......
- Do not model new components in scene, open new instance to create new objects and then make them components and import into scene
....Hope this helps as this is the way I do it.
Hi there SOLO,
I ask may a "why"??
i also have the same workflow as you, but i do not know the why, for this point...
- Do not try......
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Rachid,
The reason for this is that opening a new instance of SU enables you to work without interferance, clean and focused on the object you are building, it also helps for smooth workflow as the new instance is free of cumbersome geometry.
If you are using any unstable plugins and you should experiance a crash then only that object crashes and not the scene.
Ever try orbiting an object within a huge scene? well with a new instance where the object is built at 0,0 orbiting is easy and control over the building process is much better.Hope this helps you undestand my workflow.
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@SoLo
Yup helped allot, and i did notice that orbiting in large models is quite a nuisance,
thanks for explaining to me Solo, am definitely going to add it to my work flow -
Go to styles, wireframe and set your model to colour "by axis",...oh and dont try to read everything on this forum otherwise you will not get any work done.
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I learnt from V1 and one of my best tips would be to learn triangulation of surfaces, then you will be able to understand why the sandbox tool is creating that really wired shape.
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Ever wonder why the screen navigates the way it does? Put your cursor where you want the action to happen. If you have one model in the foreground and another in the background, put your cursor over the one you want to spin & then orbit. If you are shrinking/expanding the view, you can travel through your scene by putting the cursor on the side you want to move away from. Shrink, then move to the opposite side to expand the view. Since everything moves around the cursor, you will move from one side of your scene to the other.
I work on a Macbook with a scrolling touchpad, so I can always shrink and expand my view easily, no matter what tool is up. This lets me get around without changing to a viewing tool.
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Yes, definitely ood tips, Jim!
One can so easily forget about such "evidences" even after a few months of using SU while it is obvious that simply navigating in/around a model also needs a (however small) learning curve.
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Although I am a beginner myself, my beginner tip would be:
First thing before you draw anything, make sure you are drawing in the right unit.
Same with importing a drawing. Make sure on the options tab under review icon, check if it selected the same unit style as your drawing, or else the imported drawing would be wrong scaled. -
In addition to setting your units first, if you're going to draw a small object, like a watch, for example, you may also want to disable length snapping, or set this number to a smaller value.
Window --> Model Info --> Units . . .
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In fact, I keep it off all the time.
BUT for a beginner, it CAN be useful until (s)he gets used to using precise vaues in the VCB/Measurement box and/or exploiting the full power of (other) inferences.
At the same time, when trying to trace something on an image, it can become a pain so turn it off immediately then.
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Required Newbie Watching.
Watch these great videos before getting too far. You may find one to answer your immediate question.
Experieced users will also learn things they never knew or forgot.
http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=15162&st=0&sk=t&sd=a#p116612
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I would have to say the single most important thing you can do with any software is go through every menu item until you understand what they do. I mean EVERYTHING. From the filemenu on... all the way to preferences and the help menu. You may not understand every menu items usage right away, but you will find later on that by familiarizing yourself with these options you will learn the software much quicker.
When i first started in computers--maybe 2 years ago, i am a late bloomer, i know
--i had no idea of usergroups, Usenet, chatrooms, much less how to find information on the net. I did not buy a video or read a book, i just opened the software and learned the damn thing.Get up close an personal with the user interface and your learning will be so much more fun
</2pesos>
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Exactly. This is what Jean (Johnny) Lemire also suggests at his 3D BaseCamp session in the "Tips & Tricks" panel (last presenter in this video). -
Do NOT assign shortcuts to the numberpad keys, especially if you ever use the Numberpad to enter Measuremensts (VCB) values.
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@jim said:
Do NOT assign shortcuts to the numberpad keys, especially if you ever use the Numberpad to enter Measuremensts (VCB) values.
And . . . don't use X as a shortcut key or you won't be able to create linear or radial patterns. -
Similarly, dont use "/" as a shortcut either as its already used for arrays.
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@greentoaster said:
And . . . don't use X as a shortcut key or you won't be able to create linear or radial patterns.Not true. I have used X as my x-ray shortcut for years and have never had a problem.
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Do this and it won't work - and I guarantee it:
Step 1
Select a group (very important)
Step 2
Window -->
Preferences -->
Shortcuts -->
Edit/Item/Flip Along/Group's Green -->
Add Shortcut (insert X in field) -->
Press the "+" button -->
OKStep 3
Copy the group -->
Now, the "x" function does NOT work
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